(Photo: Marina Williams)
TEMPE – It was a one-point game with Arizona State looking to put the finishing touches on their first-ranked win in the Kenny Dillingham era. On the Utah 48-yard line, the Sun Devils went to their Mariano Rivera and called in the closer to shut the door on the biggest Arizona State win in years.
Cameron Skattebo’s 21st carry of the game began with the senior running back going face first into his tackle, but one cutback and two bullying blocks later, a lane opened up. The player who is so good at forcing his way through contact was untouched when he flipped into the end zone 48 yards later.
It was the finishing touch on another historic performance. If Skattebo is Rivera then this final rush was the cutter that shattered the chances of a Utah win like the hundreds of wooden bats Rivera sent to an early grave.
One season after losing 55-3 in Salt Lake City, thousands of fans rushed the field as ASU (5-1, 2-1 Big 12) took down preseason Big 12 favorite No. 16 Utah (4-2, 1-2 Big 12) 27-19.
“We got guys that are playing together every snap,” Skattebo said. “We got guys that trust me trust the defense, trust Sam (Leavitt), trust the O line. Everybody trusts each other, and it’s incredible.”
It is really hard to believe the progress the Sun Devils have made from one year to the next. Picked to finish dead-last in the Big 12 as the season began, six games into the season, the Sun Devils have now put themselves in a position to contend for a spot in the Big 12 title game.
“(The media) says things, you guys have your own opinions,” Skattebo said to the media surrounding him at the postgame press conference. “We know what’s going on in our locker room, and at the end of the day, it comes down to us playing football. We don’t have to listen to people saying we’re gonna finish last and Utah’s gonna finish first. At the end of the day, we both got to get on the football field and play.”
Throughout the week leading up to the game, head coach Kenny Dillingham fielded multiple questions about the uncertainty at the quarterback position for ASU as Utah continued to play will they, won’t they with starting senior quarterback Cam Rising, who is dealing with a hand injury. Dillingham always responded that it didn’t matter who was playing quarterback, as playing Utah meant one thing: stopping the Utes’ vaunted rushing attack and finding a way to move the football on the ground.
Entering the game, Utah had lived up to their reputation, allowing just 107.0 yards per game on the ground. Skattebo and the Sun Devils’ offense blew past that total, amassing 178 yards rushing and averaging 4.8 yards per carry. Skattebo himself accounted for 158 of those yards, adding two touchdowns.
“We ran the ball decent, and we stopped the run decent, versus a program, not a team, a program, that that’s their identity,” Dillingham said “I would love to say this one win puts us on that level and gives us that consistency, but it doesn’t. It just shows that we’re in the right direction.”
While Skattebo’s second touchdown was the one that closed out the game, it was neither his most impressive nor longest score on the night.
Near the end of the third quarter, the Utes put together their strongest drive of the game. The rushing attack that had struggled in the first half finally came alive as senior running back Micah Bernard rushed for multiple 10+ yard gains and eventually punched in a six-yard score to put Utah up 16-13, their first lead since 6-0 early in the first quarter.
ASU needed a response, and Skattebo was there to answer the call. At midfield, he took the handoff from Leavitt and was immediately met by two defenders. Shaking off both of them, the Sacramento native got to the second level, where he was met by a third defender who forced Skattebo off balance and into the air. Somehow, with his legs flailing, he stayed on his feet, cutting to the outside, shaking off two more defenders, and tiptoeing down the sideline to give ASU back a 20-16 lead. One they would never give up.
Both 48+ yard rushing touchdowns come a little over a week after Dillingham noted that the Sun Devils were lacking in the explosive rush department.
“Teams that don’t give up explosive runs, that’s their M.O,.” Dillingham said. “(Utah doesn’t) give up explosive plays, but it all works together. The O line played great. (Skattebo’s) hard to bring down. The quarterback running game and the moving of the pockets. We called a good game.”
Skattebo wasn’t the only one making big plays to put ASU in a position to win. Redshirt senior linebacker Caleb McCullough started the game in the position of Keyshaun Elliott, who was forced to sit out the first half due to a targeting call in the second half of last week’s Kansas game. McCullough has been witness to multiple different eras of Sun Devil Football, sticking through two consecutive 3-9 seasons and deciding to stay in Tempe.
Getting his first opportunity to start this season, the veteran made the most of it, intercepting two balls, including one in the red zone and one to clinch the game with under two minutes remaining.
“I put in a lot of work to get to this position,” McCullough said. “I tell my family and everything that one day I’m gonna get my opportunity. When you do get that opportunity, the work you put in is gonna show, and tonight it showed.”
Six games and seven weeks into the season, Arizona State football finds themselves staring at a potential top-25 ranking come Sunday, as well as one win from a bowl game. However, even if ASU isn’t ranked, there is a clear sign that something special is brewing in Tempe.
Restarting a program doesn’t usually show results this early, but now that they have, it is hard to not imagine where this team could be not just at the end of the season, but in a few years time as well. Maybe, they even resemble a Utah program that Dillingham has repeatedly said he wants to emulate.
“We just beat the No. 16 team in the country, so who says we can’t beat anybody else,” Skattebo said.
